Fernando Alonso: This second place feels like a victory to me

After a difficult start to the 2012 season, albeit with a race victory in Malaysia, Fernando Alonso is pleased with how the Spanish Grand Prix turned out for him, and has regarded the result as good as a race victory. The Spaniard came home 2nd behind Pastor Maldonado, whereas team-mate Felipe Massa once again failed to score any points.

This result was Fernando Alonso and Ferrari’s second podium of the season, as all but two of the points scored by Ferrari so far in 2012 has come from the 2-time World Champion. With Stefano Domenicali fully confident that Felipe Massa will react and fight back in Monaco, Fernando Alonso is blunt in reiterating the fact that Ferrari did not do the best job when it came to designing their 2012 challenger.

“This second place feels like a victory.” Explained a positive Fernando Alonso, “Having finished the race in Sakhir almost a minute off the winner, today we overtook one of the two Red Bulls and we fought right to the very end for the win. On top of that, we have made up a lot of points on the Red Bull and the McLaren drivers, which makes the outcome of this weekend even more positive. We definitely did not do the best job when it came to designing the car – there is still much to do – but we can be proud of how we got the most out of our potential, probably over and above the limits of the car. We must continue to bring updates all the time for the car, because it is all very close and the slightest thing can make the difference.”

Fernando Alonso now heads to the Monaco Grand Prix sharing the top spot in the Drivers’ Championship with Sebastian Vettel. However, with such an unpredictable season thus far, anything can happen around the streets of Monte-Carlo.

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